


Megatron's Fan Club

by Lycaste, Owlix



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Blogging, Developing Relationship, Embarrassment, Gen, M/M, Seeker Trines, Starscream has a crush, Trine Shenanigans, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 12:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7050511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lycaste/pseuds/Lycaste, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlix/pseuds/Owlix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thundercracker and Starscream are members of the same fan club. They just don't realize it yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Owlix: The idea for this fic came from conversations with Lycaste, who also wrote an amazing second chapter. Thank you Lycaste for encouraging me to write this and for writing the hilarious second half!

Thundercracker lay on his back in his cosy bunk, trying to read. He’d gone to great effort and some risk to acquire this datapad – a dense political essay by the well-known underground political philosopher, Megatron of Tarn. Heavy stuff. To fully appreciate it he needed to concentrate.

Which he couldn’t do, at all. Below him, Starscream was watching some video. By the crowd noises and clashes of metal, more of his gladiatorial scrap that he’d become fixated on recently. He _could_ have plugged the audio directly into his own audio feed, but being Starscream, he’d left it to play out of the speakers instead, and not quietly.

“ _Turn the volume down_ ,” Thundercracker texted over their trine channel.

Thundercracker waited. The message showed as _read_. More noise came from the bunk below him; if anything, Starscream had turned the volume _up_.

That did it. Thundercracker only had so much time off during his off shift – he wasn’t going to waste it listening to his trine-mate’s stupid gladiator garbage. He leaned over the edge of his bunk.

“Dammit, Starscream, I said turn the volume down!”

Starscream lay on his abdomen in the bunk below, his legs up and crossed at the ankles, chin on his hands. In front of him, the video screen flashed and flickered. “What?” he said flatly, without turning his head. As if he had no idea how rude he was being, or more likely as if he didn’t care.

“Turn. The volume. _Down_. I’m trying to _read_. I can’t concentrate with all that noise. “ Something on the screen caught Thundercracker’s optic. An unpainted silver grounder with tank treads was facing off against a massive, brightly-colored mech with two swords. Thundercracker remembered that paint job – at the end of this fight, that brightly-colored mech would get his spark ripped out. “You’ve already seen this one anyway!”

“He has to watch it again,” Skywarp said from the lowest bunk. “For his blog”

Starscream stiffened. Thundercracker squinted.

“For his _what_?”

A loud crack and a flash of light, and Skywarp was suddenly right next to him. Awkwardly close – military bunks for new seekers were designed to hold one mech at a time, and fitting another mech in there inevitably resulted in some crowding. Thundercracker didn’t mind. He’d gotten surprisingly fond of ‘Warp over the course of basic training, even before they signed up as a trine.

“His blog,” Skywarp repeated. “Starscream writes a pro-gladiating blog.”

Starscream gave Skywarp a sharp warning glance over his shoulder before turning back to his video.

Skywarp didn’t seem to notice. “Here. I’ll send you the link”

A text message pinged Thundercracker across the shared trine channel. The message contained a public net address. The subject line read, “Screamer has a crush.”

Thundercracker covered his mouth with one hand, snorting a badly suppressed laugh. This was how he and ‘Warp had first become friends – Skywarp loved to crack Thundercracker’s stoic exterior and drag a laugh out of him. Starscream had come later. His inclusion in their trine had bumped both their flight and written scores up significantly, and no one else had been able to tolerate him. For obvious reasons.

“I do not have a _crush_.” Starscream’s shoulders stiffened, and the tips of his wings twitched - _battle mode engaged_. “I’m a fan of professional gladiatorial combat.”

Thundercracker followed the link. It led to a professional-looking site that, if the sidebar could be believed, was _Cybertron’s Premier Source for Pro-Gladiatorial Combat News and Recaps_.

“You’re a fan of something all right,” Skywarp said, snickering. “Especially this guy Megatron.”

Wait, what? “Megatron? With an _r_? Megatron of _Tarn_?” Surely Skywarp couldn’t be talking about the political philosopher? The miner who wrote the densely written datapad Thundercracker _still_ didn’t have enough peace and quiet to actually read? But how many Megatrons could there be?

“Yeah,” Skywarp said with an absent wave of one hand. “He’s a pit fighter, but he writes stuff too.”

“He _what_?” Starscream asked, equally stunned. Skywarp ignored him too. He was messing with his own datapad.

“Listen to this, TC.” ‘Warp cleared his throat. “ _Megatron rippled with power as he grabbed his opponent’s weapon in one massive hand and effortlessly cast it aside. He ripped open his opponent’s spark chamber, his big strong hands wet with spilled fuel and his unpainted armor gleaming in the sparklight, and_ –” Skywarp collapsed into laughter, unable to go on.

“Shut up, Skywarp.” Starscream actually sounded calm – _danger level rising_.

“ _Oh Megatron_ ,” Skywarp said, in a pretty decent Starscream impression. “ _Please! Take me in your big strong hands and_ –”

Starscream launched himself at Skywarp with a shriek. He crashed into Thundercracker’s bunk, clipping Thundercracker painfully across the shoulder with a wing before colliding into the wall where Skywarp had been just a moment before.

“He _is_ pretty good looking though,” Skywarp said from below them both.

Thundercracker peered over the edge of his bunk. Skywarp was sitting on Starscream’s berth, watching the video.

“I mean, if you’re into ground vehicles, I guess. Which I’m not. Because that’d be really embarassi– _ack_!”

Starscream launched himself over the edge of Thundercracker’s bunk in another full-out attack. Another loud crack and another bright flash of light and Skywarp was gone – he’d ‘ported out of the room entirely this time. This was one of the major disadvantages of having both Skywarp and Starscream as a trinemates. As funny as it was to watch Skywarp wind Starscream up, Thundercracker inevitably had to deal with the aftermath on his own. At least half of the time, that meant Starscream taking out his rage on Thundercracker, who had done nothing to deserve it.

Maybe not this time, though. Starscream took a moment to calm himself down, weapons systems and engines winding down. He looked up at Thundercracker, just daring Thundercracker to say something. Thundercracker looked past him, at the video still playing loudly on the screen behind him.

Was that big miner really the same mech who wrote the political essays Thundercracker had been poring over for months now?

Starscream noticed. Another long moment, and Starscream picked up the datapad and held it out to Thundercracker. Thundercracker stared at it, then took it, handing Starscream the datapad with Megatron’s essay in trade.

Starscream lay back down on his abdomen, legs crossed at the heels and chin resting on his hands, and settled in to read. After a moment, Thundercracker lay on his back, video datapad resting on his cockpit.

So _this_ was Thundercracker’s favorite author? Maybe Starscream didn’t have such terrible taste after all. Thundercracker watched the video from the beginning. He didn’t turn down the volume.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Lycaste: So Owlix showed me the delightful first chapter and in a fit of excitement, I wrote this as an unofficial sequel. They then suggested that we post them together. Thank you, Owlix, for letting me play too. :D <3 <3

 

Thundercracker had hoped that giving Starscream something to read would result in more peace and quiet in their shared bunker. Instead, delving into Megatron of Tarn's political pieces had only enhanced his new trinemate's fixation.

The fixation was not completely unfounded. Megatron was a fascinating individual. At first it was hard to reconcile the images of the merciless gladiator with the ideas of the complicated essayist. But after a few weeks of reading datapads and watching gladiatorial videos, Thundercracker began to see the similarities. There was a ferocity to both the words and the battles. A complete dedication to a cause. Everything this Megatron did, he performed with great power and impact.

To say Starscream had a crush at this point was putting it mildly.

Thus the loud videos had grown louder. Foregoing recharge to read had become the norm. And listening to Starscream's ceaseless muttering was starting to grate on Thundercracker's last nervecircuit.

"Ugh! Not this cogsucker _again,_ " said Starscream from the bunk below.

"Shhh," said Thundercracker. Next to him, Skywarp shook his head and scoffed. They'd taken to squeezing themselves together on Thundercracker's bunk during downtime, each reading or watching their own datapads. It should have been stifling, but there was a welcome ease to the now nightly ritual, and it was pleasant to feel that they were growing closer as trinemembers. Two out of three of them were growing closer, anyway.

" _I like your writing style,_ " said Starscream with a sneer that was somehow audible. " _But it's a little one-dimensional. Wanna meet up sometime and I can show you how a real gladiator fights?_ "

Thundercracker opened his mouth to shush him again, but stopped. He and Skywarp shared a puzzled look. "What?"

In a flash, Skywarp was gone. The bunk below creaked with added weight, and Skywarp's boisterous laughter filled the room. " _Megatron's hands aren't the only things that are big and wet?_ Ewwww..."

"Alright. What are you two reading?" Thundercracker swung his legs over the side and dropped down. He pushed Skywarp aside, and both of them took a position peeking over Starscream's shoulder. They seemed to end up this way a lot recently, even when they weren't in flight formation. Thundercracker to Starscream's right, and Skywarp to his left. As much as Thundercracker wasn't wild about how Starscream was emerging as a natural trineleader, it wasn't as if _he_ wanted the job.

Thundercracker recognized the design of Starscream’s nonsense gladiatorial blog. Which, he had learned, actually carried a lot of weight amongst fans of the sport. It must have been the admin view, as there was a long list of comments underneath the header.

"This one troll." Starscream's lip curled and his faceplates scrunched up. "I hate this guy. He always leaves these patronizing comments full of rude double entendre. Gah!"

"Can't you block him?" asked Thundercracker. He had no idea how the back end of online publishing worked, but surely you should be able to block someone from posting on your own blog.

Starscream threw up his hands. "I've tried! He must have some illegal comm scrambling software. It keeps telling me his username is blocked but then he posts again. I'd need his actual frequency."

Skywarp leaned on Thundercracker's shoulder, banging their wings together. "Look," he wheezed. "Look at his name."

Thundercracker read the name at the top of the comments. He failed to stop the series of amused chortles that rose from his vocalizer. "Really?"

"Yeah," said Starscream.

Next to the troll's userpic of a fractured sparkchamber was the name Hotlips69.

Skywarp recovered enough to read aloud in between giggles. " _Rippling with power. Sounds like a trick that I do with my tongue._ "

"Who _says_ stuff like that?" asked Thundercracker.

"This idiot." Starscream scrolled further down the page. "I sent him a message telling him to frag off, and here's how he responded."

" _I'm sorry you were offended,_ " read Thundercracker. "That's...not a real apology."

"I know!" said Starscream. His engine gave an angry rev, and he tapped furiously at the screen. "Delete. Delete. Delete! Does this guy ever stop? It's like he's obsessed or something."

"Says the mech who's bringing a dedicated gladiator datapad to have Megatron put a rubsign on it tonight," said Skywarp.

Starscream tensed, his finger hovering in the air. He slowly turned to glare at Skywarp. For most mechs, such an icy, dangerous look would have silenced them immediately. Skywarp took it as an invitation to needle further.

"Are you gonna recite every fight to him?" asked Skywarp. He continued in Starscream’s voice. " _Now, Megatron,_ _I watched your fights and I always noticed you leading with your right. It got you into trouble on number 37, when the-_ "

His Starscream impression had gotten even better, although the mocked mech himself wasn't impressed. He twisted on the berth and grabbed for Skywarp, his shoulder mounted cannons whining loudly. His fist met with nothing but air as Skywarp teleported out of the room. *Vop*. 

But Starscream's ire needed a target. He shoved at Thundercracker, and then jumped on him.

Thundercracker grabbed at his wrists. "Hey! Calm down."

They grappled together in the cramped space on the berth for a while before Starscream got ahold of himself. When he did, he sniffed haughtily and looked away, showing no signs of remorse for the misguided attack.

This was Starscream's post-outburst simmer. The period where he calmed down enough to talk, but would still lash out again if someone pushed him. Keeping the peace at this point was a delicate dance. While Thundercracker didn't particularly care to cater to Starscream's moods, he didn't want to deal with another tantrum either. "Easy," he said, noting with dismay that Starscream had put a light scratch on his cockpit. "He's just trying to get a reaction, you know."

"I know," snapped Starscream.

"Come on," said Thundercracker. "Let's go to the fight."

"Oh, you wanna go now?" said Starscream petulantly. "I thought you said it was a bad idea."

It _was_ a bad idea in Thundercracker's opinion. The Senate had outlawed the gladiator fights and were scrutinizing underground activity heavily. In order to stay one step ahead of the police, the battles were constantly changing location. Starscream had pulled a lot of wires to get the coordinates for this evening's fight. If they were caught, they'd be arrested and thrown in jail without a trial. Attending one was dangerous and stupid. 

But it meant _so much_ to Starscream. Plus Thundercracker was curious to meet Megatron of Tarn as well. Besides, they were a trine now. Trines stuck together. "It _is_ a bad idea. Don't forget your datapad."

Starscream stared at him for a few seconds, and then a tiny grin flitted across his face. He quickly pulled it into a scowl, snatched up his datapad, and jumped off the berth. "Let's go."

 

~~~***~~~

 

When Megatron of Tarn ripped his opponent clean in half, the roar of the crowd had reached a pitch loud enough to blow out audials. Mechs cheered, feet pounded in the stadium seating. The frenzy soon gave way to a unified chant. "Mega-tron! Mega-tron!" The former miner had hoisted the top half of his opponent into the air, and then thrown it to the ground and stomped away. Leaving Starscream cheering, Thundercracker gasping, and Skywarp whispering, "Holy slag!"

But Megatron of Tarn hadn't left the arena through the main entrance.

"He must've already gone," said Skywarp.

"We didn't see him leave," said Starscream. His wings were drooped. They rose hopefully every time someone came out, but it was never Megatron.

Thundercracker scanned their surroundings once more. The security guards were still posted, but fewer and fewer mechs were exiting. A crew of green and purple grounders had already started dismantling the arena. It was time to go, although he didn't want to be the one to tell that to Starscream.

Fortunately Skywarp once again displayed that eerie ability to read his mind. "We gotta go, Starscream. He's not coming out, and this is getting boring."

"And dangerous," said Thundercracker. "Look, they're taking it down." He gestured towards the side of the makeshift stadium.

Starscream followed his gaze. Holo-posters hung on the walls, each with that new purple symbol and the words " _You Are Being Deceived._ " Megatron's symbol. Megatron's words. With a frown, Starscream squared his shoulders and said, "You two go. I'm gonna keep waiting."

Thundercracker gently laid a hand on his wing. "No. We all came together, we're all leaving together. Let's go before the cops show up."

"Yeah," said Skywarp. "There'll be other opportunities to get something signed by those big strong hands."

Starscream glared at him. Completely calm.

Thundercracker followed suit, mouthing the words "Not now" to Skywarp. A petty squabble would bring more attention. Also, not that he cared, but Starscream seemed well and truly dejected.

Before Skywarp could respond, the entrance to the arena slid open. Yet the mech who exited wasn't Megatron. He was larger, blue and white with lips that were way too pretty for such a crass grounder frame. He walked towards them without slowing down, confident in his ability to intimidate anyone out of his way.

Thundercracker and Skywarp stepped back, letting the massive mech pass. Starscream, however, continued to prove that his vocal components worked faster than his processor. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Why don't _you_ watch where you're standing?" responded the large mech.

Starscream stood his ground, his head craned backwards to look the other mech in the face. Ever the opportunist, he asked, "Is Megatron still in there?"

"Another Megatron fan?" groaned the blue bot. "I think he left. But you should come back next time. I'll show you how a _real_ gladiator fights."

"Keep telling yourself that," said Starscream. "Megatron's the best. He could lick you anytime, anyplace. Left, right, and center."

Starscream was obviously referring to fighting, but the blue bot's face split into a wicked leer. "Oooh, kinky. Sounds like a trick I do with my tongue." He continued moving, forcing Starscream to jump out of the way as he strode past them.

Thundercracker's fuel pump went into overdrive. His jaw dropped. He turned to Starscream and Skywarp, who wore similar expressions of surprise. "Did you hear-"

"No way," said Skywarp. "You don't think that's-"

"Hotlips69," whispered Thundercracker. He shook his head. "It's gotta be. Who says stuff like that?"

Starscream was audibly shuttering his optics, still gaping at the mech's retreating back. "I recognize him. That's Overlord. He thinks he's as good a fighter as Megatron, but he's so _not._ "

A mischievous smile spread across Skywarp's face. "Hold on."

Thundercracker reached for him. "'Warp. Don't."

It was too late. Skywarp disappeared in a purple flash, and then reappeared in front of Overlord and struck a flirty pose, hands on his hips. They proceeded to have a conversation that was out of audio range, but obviously pleasant in tone given how they were both grinning and ogling each other.

Thundercracker watched with his spark in his throat, weapons on standby. He didn't know why this made him so uneasy. Overlord seemed receptive and friendly, but there was something unsettling about him. It wasn't just his menacing frame. It was something in his smile.

Starscream was suddenly next to him. "If this goes south," he whispered, "concentrate fire on his helm."

For the first time since they signed up together, Thundercracker felt a little sliver of appreciation for his abrasive trinemate. He locked his targeting software onto Overlord's head. "Understood."

Yet the interaction in front of them remained light and teasing. After a few minutes, Skywarp stroked Overlord’s arm and walked away. Overlord watched him go, gave an amiable finger-wiggling wave to Thundercracker and Starscream, and then strolled on. His sinister whistling hung in the air long after he turned a corner.

Skywarp hurried to Starscream's side. "It's him alright. I'm sure of it."

"How?"

"One, he's got hot lips. Two, the way he talks. Trust me, it's him."

Starscream clenched a fist. "That slagger."

"Motion to start calling him Trollverlord," said Skywarp. "And here. Don't say I never gave you anything." He sent a text across their shared trine channel. The subject line said, "Trollverlord."

The message contained a comm number.

Thundercracker's mouth fell open. "You got his _number_?"

"Yeah. Now you can block him for good, Screamer."

Starscream's EM field practically soared into the sky. "Thanks," he said, simple and genuine. For once.

"Can we go now?" whined Skywarp. "Megatron's not coming out."

"Skywarp's right. He probably left through a private exit hours ago,” said Thundercracker.

Starscream sagged. "Yeah," he sighed.

"I don't see what's so special about this guy anyway," said Skywarp. "Okay he's a good fighter on the ground, but so what?"

Thundercracker didn't want to be part of the rabid Megatron fan club, but the mech's ideas really were revolutionary. Even more revolutionary was the fact that he dared publish them. "It's more than that. You should read his essays. They're inspiring." 

Inspiring was an understatement. They were radical. Forward-looking. And preached the exact opposite of the Functionist Council's views of cold-constructionism and caste. Views that had been stepping on the back of Thundercracker's neck his whole life.

"I tried!" said Skywarp. He pointed an accusatory finger at Starscream. "But _he_ made fun of me when I asked what oligarchy meant."

"Well." Starscream had the decency to look chagrined, although it didn't last long. His normal confident smirk returned to his face. "I'm sorry you were offended."

 _Great_ , thought Thundercracker. He'd be breaking up another fight soon for sure.

And for a second, it looked like a fight would happen. Skywarp drew back, affronted. But as quickly as his mood soured, it bounced back. He burst out laughing, and then swatted playfully at Starscream. "Aft."

"Come on," said Starscream. "Let's go home."

They transformed and took to the sky, Starscream in front with Thundercracker and Skywarp falling into formation. They hadn't gone very far before Skywarp opened their trine channel. "Heads up, TC. Overlord wanted a comm frequency in return. So I gave him yours."

Thundercracker briefly lost altitude. "You didn't!"

"I did," said Skywarp. "So you might wanna block him too. Especially since I told him that I was looking for a Megatron for my gladiator roleplay. And that I like it rough."

"What?!?" cried Thundercracker. Just what he needed. A pouty troll dirty talking his private comm.

"It had to be done. See you at the base!" Skywarp fired his afterburners, streaking through the sky with Thundercracker in hot pursuit, and Starscream cackling in their contrails.


End file.
